Hasbro said it would cut 1,000 jobs and announced the departure of its chief operating officer as the US toymaker revealed preliminary fourth-quarter results that were worse than expected.
The job cuts, which represent around 15% of its global workforce, «are necessary to return our business to a competitive and industry-leading position,» chief executive Chris Cocks said in a statement Thursday after- noon.
Hasbro said they would help keep the company on track to meet its goal, under a plan announced last October, of $250 million to $300 million in annual savings by the end of 2025.
The company, which makes Monopoly board games and Transformers toys, said chief operating officer Eric Nyman will leave following organizational and business changes. The company said in its latest annual report that it employs 6,640 people worldwide.
In preliminary results released Thursday, Hasbro said revenue in 2022 was about $5.86 billion, down 9% from a year ago, or a decline of 6% in currency terms. constant. That was worse than its October forecast, when it slashed its full-year outlook, and analysts’ expectations for more than $6.1 billion.
The company also had a poor holiday season, which is usually a crucial sales period for toymakers and retailers. Hasbro’s revenue in the three months ended Dec. 26 of $1.68 billion, was down 17% from a year earlier and below Wall Street’s median forecast of $1.92 billion.
Hasbro shares fell more than 7% in after-hours trading in New York on Thursday. At the end of the regular session, its shares were up 4.5% since the start of 2023, but have lost about 29% in the past 12 months.